The Boonville Pirates tennis team had a rough start to the 2013 season last night by losing to the Osage Indians by a score of 9-0 at the high school tennis courts.

While battling both Osage and the wind last night, head coach Stephanie Carey said even with the loss she was pleased with the level of intensity and competitiveness she saw in the players.

“In spite of only being on the courts a week and with a very inexperienced team, the guys showed a lot of promise today,” Carey said. “Our doubles combinations will need some tweaking, but I think we got a good feel for what will work in our lineup and afford us some success in those spots.”

The Boonville Pirates tennis team, 0-1 on the season, will have a quick turnaround, as they face the Marshall Owls in the conference opener tonight at the high school tennis courts starting at 4:30 p.m.

As for the match last night, the Pirate netters struggled to say the least against Osage while dropping the first-three matches by identical scores of 10-1. At No. 1 singles, senior Cody Painter fell to Thomas Uhl. At No. 2 singles, Nathan Green lost to Adam Keith. Meanwhile, at No. 3 singles, Jake McQuitty was upended by Ryan Curran.

Green said Painter started out by winning the first game, made some adjustments and played tough points against a solid player. “Nathan Green had a little trouble adjusting his strokes, but showed the power and quickness he’s known to have,” Green said. “Jake got his first taste of singles in the top part of the lineup and handled himself well.”

Of course the Pirates had a little better luck in the final-three spots in singles. Although all three resulted in losses, the Pirate netters kept the score a little bit closer. At No. 4 singles, senior Kelly Williams lost to Garrett Grasshoff by a score of 10-4. Meanwhile, at No. 5 singles, Noah Bechtel fell to Jordan Wilson by a score of 10-2. Ian Pond also took it on the chin against John Schoening 10-4.

Green said Williams started the match very strong and was hitting the ball well. “His placement was good, he hit a bump and just couldn’t get his rhythm back consistently. For Bechtel’s first varsity level singles match, he really showed some good shot selection and had a good transition game. Pond, meanwhile, had some really good points called out and handled himself with poise. He settled in and began using the whole court playing long points.”

Unlike conference matches where the Pirates play six singles and six doubles matches, the match last night against Osage consisted of only six singles matches and three doubles matches.

Page 2 of 2 - Of course the Pirate netters had no chance of winning the match after dropping all six singles matches. Osage’s dominance continued in doubles as the Indians won all three matches for the shutout.

At No. 1 doubles, Painter and McQuitty fell to the team of Uhl and Curran by a score of 10-1. At No. 2 doubles, Green and Bechtel lost to the team of Keith and Grasshoff by a score of 10-3. Meanwhile, at No. 3 doubles, Williams and Pond dropped a 10-2 decision against the team of Wilson and Schoening.